Grantee Research Project Results
2022 Progress Report: Community-Driven Assessment of Environmental Health Risks in Vieques, Puerto Rico
EPA Grant Number: CR839978Title: Community-Driven Assessment of Environmental Health Risks in Vieques, Puerto Rico
Investigators: Estrada-Martínez, Lorena , Scammell, Madeleine Kangsen , Chen, Robert F , Colón-Carmona, Adan , Poynton, Helen C , Linde-Arias, Ana Rosa , Negrón, Rosalyn , Raciti, Antonio , Díaz-Vázquez, Liz , Gómez-Márquez, Jose , Rivera, Lorna , Hamad-Schifferli, Kimberly
Institution: University of Massachusetts - Boston , Boston University , University of Puerto Rico - Rio Piedras Campus
EPA Project Officer: Aja, Hayley
Project Period: May 1, 2020 through April 30, 2023 (Extended to April 30, 2025)
Project Period Covered by this Report: May 1, 2022 through April 30,2023
Project Amount: $800,000
RFA: Addressing Environmental Concerns in Vieques, Puerto Rico Through Community Participatory Research (2019) RFA Text | Recipients Lists
Research Category: Sustainable and Healthy Communities , Human Health
Objective:
- To establish exposure to multiple contaminants through person-centered environmental assessments that account for intersecting exposure pathways over time as determined through community input.
- To establish a resident data monitoring and decision-making infrastructure through citizen science and participatory community engagement.
- To develop a plant-based remediation system for soil metals and train community members to implement it at appropriate sites.
Progress Summary:
Phase I: Building CBPR Coalition
- Conducted seven CASC meetings and two in-person meetings in Vieques in the Summer of 2022.
- In January 2023, a PIs, collaborators, and students team visited Vieques to conduct a demonstration workshop for the Ampliblock sensors for community members and farmers, visited four schools, and held a general community meeting.
- One community member left the CASC during Year 3 (Raimundo Benjamin), and a new member was recruited following the voting process established in the MOU (Jade Algarín).
Phase IIA: Human Health Assessment
- Collection of life history calendars (LHC).
- Retrospective dietary history.
- Collection of health history questionnaires.
- Construction of preliminary qualitative maps and diagrams.
Phase IIB: Ecological Risk Assessment
- Field sampling: Site selection methods and community-based approach
- Field sampling: Collection of sediment from ten lagoons or shores on the island of Vieques
- Selection of species for chronic toxicity assessment
Phase III: Contaminant Assessment
- Developed chemistry and Ampli block systems for detecting the heavy metal nickel, a common and detectable contaminant associated with industrial and military activities.
- Designed and conducted a workshop introducing Ampli block assessments of Nickel in soils for community members in Vieques.
Phase IV: Phytoremediation
- Identified six plant species to use in the phytoremediation pilot study.
- Performed pilot growth experiments in the field and greenhouse (at La Finca La Semillera).
- Began conversations with the Vieques Wildlife Refuge staff to utilize their greenhouse space on the Refuge facility to perform plant pot experiments considering the lack of water at the La Composta field site.
- A parallel greenhouse approach was initiated at UMass Boston with chosen plant species.
Future Activities:
Phase I: Building CBPR Coalition
- Conduct 2-3 open community meetings.
- Update the webpage and Facebook page to reflect ongoing activities and results.
- Continue to have quarterly CASC meetings (more as needed)
Phase IIA: Human Health Assessment
- Finalize electronic and hard copy instruments.
- Interviewer training
- Recruitment of participants
- Conduct interviews.
Phase IIB: Ecological Risk Assessment
- Collection of the resident species, the blue land crab Cardisoma guanhumi from coastal areas throughout Vieques and RNAseq analysis to determine chronic impacts.
- Perform bioassays using the marine amphipod Parhyale hawaiensis with the collected sediment to determine the overall effects on biota. Ectoxicological protocols developed for P. hawaiensis will be followed (Amanda dos Santos et al., 2022). Surviving P. hawainesis will be collected after the 96 h bioassay for gene expression analysis.
- RNAseq gene expression analysis on P. hawainesis exposed to the toxic sediment fractions to obtain gene expression signatures for the exposures.
Phase III: Contaminant Assessment
- Develop and provide training on PFOS and lead sensors.
- Deploy app allowing volunteers to upload Ampli results into a geographic aggregator to make results open and shareable.
- Citizen Science Ampli kits for Nickel will be deployed during Year 4 in coordination with a community outreach liaison in Vieques.
Phase IV: Phytoremediation
- Restart field and greenhouse experiments this summer and fall,
- Work with community members to grow plants, maintain experimental sites, and collect samples.
- Analyze soil and plant samples with colleagues at URP-Rio Piedras.
- Establish experimental parameters for plant root microbiome analyses (Proposed Aim 3 of Phase 4).
Journal Articles:
No journal articles submitted with this report: View all 10 publications for this projectSupplemental Keywords:
Community Based Participatory Research (CBPR), Nanosensors, PPGIS, TIE, iceberg modeling, Ampli, bioremediationRelevant Websites:
VIEQUES: AMBIENTE, SALUD y ACCIÓN COMUNITARIA (saludparavieques.org) Exit
Progress and Final Reports:
Original AbstractThe perspectives, information and conclusions conveyed in research project abstracts, progress reports, final reports, journal abstracts and journal publications convey the viewpoints of the principal investigator and may not represent the views and policies of ORD and EPA. Conclusions drawn by the principal investigators have not been reviewed by the Agency.